The Mystery of Heronwood
“Working here is a career thing for
me, it’s just a special opportunity
to take part in something so unique
and so exclusive.”
—Tyler Day
two (electric) golf carts. He’d come out on
a Thursday and usually play three or four
times on the weekend, and sometimes it
was just the two of them. Occasionally
they’d have a guest. The most people we
ever had on the course at one time was
probably four.”
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE
When a recent visitor was invited to play
Heronwood in mid-May, Rogers told him
that so far, his was the only round of the year.
Mr. Byron was a decent player, probably
a 15- to 18-handicapper. Rogers said the
Course
superintendent
Tyler Day, left, and
farm manager Ben
Rogers keep the
course in shape.
owner recorded two holes-in-one on the
course and that “he took the game pretty
seriously. But he also told me one of the
nicest things about owning a golf course
was that you could hit a bad shot and just
drop another ball down and hit it again.
You’re sure not going to hold anyone up.”
In mid-May, Heronwood was in lovely
condition, despite a wet and cool spring. A
full-time course superintendent is on the
farm payroll, 29-year-old Tyler Day. He’s
a Virginia Tech graduate who has been an
assistant superintendent at several local
courses until he came to Heronwood in
The 10,000 squarefoot
horse barn
overlooks the course
at Heronwood.
2017 for what he called “an opportunity
that sounded too good to be true.”
“It’s a little different not having many
people actually playing the course you’re
taking care of,” Day said. “I got along
great with the members at the other
places I worked, and I miss that kind of
communication. The good part here is
you can get things done pretty quickly.
There’s no foot or cart traffic, so you
obviously can keep the course and the
greens in better shape. I like to see people
play and enjoy it and I take pride in
what we’ve done. That definitely keeps
me satisfied.”
Day said he’s never played the golf
course himself other than a bit of chipping
or putting, and that’s fine with him.
“Working here is a career thing for me,”
he said. “It’s just a special opportunity
to take part in something so unique and
so exclusive.”
UNCERTAIN FUTURE
How long it will stay that way remains to
be seen, what with the entire 500 acres on
the market.
Because the property is in a conservation
easement, it could never be developed
by a single owner as a gated golf
community with houses all around the
course. But it can be split into 100-acre
parcels that would allow each buyer to
build a home and even add a few tenant
houses on their individual properties.
Several potential buyers have come out
and looked around, and a few have even
played the golf course. One possible sales
scenario would be for a small syndicate
to purchase the farm, keep the course,
live on the property and perhaps turn the
facility into a small, private club.
There’s a gorgeous 10,000-square
foot horse barn on a hill overlooking the
course, and it could easily be converted
into a functioning clubhouse of sorts.
COURTESY OF THE COURSE, LEONARD SHAPIRO
28 V IRGINIA G OLFER | J ULY/A UGUST 2020
vsga.org